Last Sunday after the Epiphany/ Year A
February 19, 2023
Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
Opening prayer: God our light, make us attentive to your Word as to a lamp shining in a dark place, that seeing your truth we may live faithful lives until that great day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts. Amen. (Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion)
Today we celebrate the last Sunday of the Epiphany Season…a season of the church year, in which we have spent time with the scriptures that have helped us to reflect on the identity of Jesus Christ, whose birth and coming into the world, as the long-awaited Savior…we celebrated on Christmas Day…
We celebrated the true light that came into being, which we believe is Jesus, whose presence among us came to scatter the darkness of the world...by bringing signs of love, joy, peace, and hope to God’s people, once again…. And throughout the season of Epiphany, our scriptures have focused on helping us to see that indeed Jesus is the light of all his people…a true light….who came into the world to enlighten all people… “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” John 1:4...
This life, this light, this glorious light…was a gift from God, which revealed God’s incredible love for all of us….
It was only a seemingly few short weeks ago that we began the Epiphany Season…beginning with the visitation of the wise men, bringing gifts for this newborn king…And looking above us here in the church…the stars hanging above us, have been a weekly reminder and inspiration of the gift given for us…and a lasting gift to light the way for us…as we get ready to embark on a new season in the church year….
Reflecting back to the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordon River…in which the Spirit of God descending like a dove, alighted on Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
And here we are, several weeks later, and on the last Sunday after the Epiphany, ending with basically, the same words, that we began with on the 1st Sunday after the Epiphany, at the time of Jesus’ Baptism: “from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased”…
Only this time, these words are heard from the mountain top…with a few additional words: “listen to him!”
In our reading from 2nd Peter today…we heard an eyewitness account from Peter regarding the experience on the mountain, when he says, For he (Jesus) received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain…. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed.
“listen to him!” You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Listen to him….in the voice of the Majestic Glory that is spoken from the mountain tops…Listen to him…as you look up to the mountains, or climb them….Stay there for awhile… listen for the Spirit of God’s word for you….Watch for the glory of Christ’s presence among you…be transformed by his glorious light and life….
But don’t stop there…stuck in the amazement of the glorious light that shines before you…perhaps in a life changing moment…when you realize that yes, I do believe….that Jesus is the Son of God…that he is the beloved one…that Jesus is the light of the world…that he is the one who we are called to follow and help transform the world from the nightmare it seems to be at times…(as presiding Bishop Michael Curry often says) to the dream of God’s beloved community…where all people know that they matter to God, and to one another…
And consider this… after you allow yourself to abide in that moment of awe and awakening to something more than you could adequately explain with words…the time comes when you must descend that mountain…you must return to your walk in the world…where you will seek to do God’s will…where you will strive to listen to him….and strive to keep your eyes open to be led by the light of Christ’s presence among us, always….
There are so many moments around us daily, where God is seeking to get our attention, calling out to us: “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” and calling us to return to Him…and to the center of our being….where Christ’s love is burning in our hearts…overflowing with the love that we are being called to share with the world…overflowing with the Good News of God, in Christ…that we are being called to proclaim by word and example to the world around us….
There are so many opportunities for each one of us to reveal the power of Christ’s transforming light and love to others…as we seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves; and strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being….
But we have to take time, daily… to listen deeply…to hear what the Spirit of God is speaking to his people…so that we will respond from the center of our being, where Christ’s light and love will shine forth, through all of our words and in all of our actions…
Next Sunday, will be the first Sunday in Lent…we will return once again to Jesus’ baptism….to what begins immediately after his baptism…when he is led up by the Spirit into the wilderness…for 40 days…
We will be embarking on this journey with Jesus, as we enter this season of the church year in which we are invited to observe this season of Lent, as a time of introspection and self-reflection, and a time to be intentional about listening more deeply to God, ourselves, and others. (Living Well through Lent 2017: Listening With All Your heart, Souls, Strength, and Mind).
This year’s new Living Well Through Lent Devotional focuses on Practicing Compassion with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind…and begins with setting aside time to be intentional about listening more deeply to God, ourselves and others…
I would like to encourage you to take one of the devotionals for yourself…maybe another one to give to someone else…or take one of the daily Way of Love Lent calendars…and during the next several weeks, through the start of Holy Week…take time to visit with others…in person, or by phone, as needed…spend some time just checking in with each other, and spend some of that time talking about what’s coming to light for you in your readings from the devotional, the way of love calendar…or some other Lenten practice you take on in the next several weeks…
Epiphany has been a season of light and glory and majesty and booming voices from heaven speaking to us…about life…about the meaning of life…what matters...and who matters…
But next week, beginning on Ash Wednesday, in which we are reminded of our mortality and death, we will enter a new season of the church year that will teach us another way that God speaks to his people about the meaning of life… through silence…
No matter the season of the church year we find ourselves in… it is always the time to “listen to him!” …the Spirit of God….we will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts.
As we come to end of this church season…
My heart is overflowing with gratitude for the beautiful stars that have been adorning the church these past several weeks…and my heart is full as we come to the end of this season after the Epiphany…full of the light, and the love, and the glory of God…that is with us now, and will be…forever….Amen
HYMN: How Great thou art
Rev. Julie Platson, Rector
St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, Alaska